Retaining walls are often built by placing a number of interconnected blocks in courses upon each other. A course of blocks is also referred to as a row of blocks. The blocks typically have interior cavities that hold drainage material. The cavities may also be referred to as cores or chambers. The drainage materials are typically drain rocks that are each about 1 cubic inch in overall size. Drainage materials are often void of fines so that plugging of the cavities can be reduced and flow of water through the retaining wall is substantially unimpeded.
Retaining walls are structurally supported by the use of a structural support material, for example geo grid. Geo grid is a mesh-like material that is often made of polypropylene or other polymers with sufficiently high tensile strengths. The geo grid is placed between one or more courses of the retaining wall. The geo grid extends away from a back face of the retaining wall and into the retained material, such as earth, rocks and soil, which is being retained by the retaining wall. The distance that the geo grid extends into the retained material may vary based upon a number factors, such as the physical stability of the retained materials, and overall mass of the retained materials, the height of the retaining wall and other factors that are known to those skilled in the art. The mesh structure of the geo grid comprises a number of holes that portions of the retained material can fit within. The weight of the retained materials and the presence of the retained materials within the holes of the geo grid contribute to the structural integrity of the retaining wall.
Securing posts, such as fence posts, to retaining walls is often desirable for safety and security. A builder can secure fence posts to a retaining wall by lag bolting a post bracket to a top cap of the retaining wall. The top cap is often adhered to the upper course of blocks by an adhesive. Then the builder will typically secure a fence post into the post bracket, and build a fence between a series of secured fence posts. While this is commonly used, it creates an unsafe scenario because the adhesive is not designed to maintain adhesion of the top cap that includes a fence thereupon. For example, the fence posts can act as a lever that can, in some cases easily, disconnect the top cap from the upper course of blocks.
Another known solution to securing fence posts to near to the top of retaining walls is to insert sonotubes into the retained material near the back face of the retaining wall. This approach includes positioning the sonotubes within the retained material, inserting the fence posts and filling the sonotubes with concrete to fix the fence posts within the sonotubes. While the use of sonotubes does not pose the same safety concerns as the previously described approach, the placement of the sonotubes within the retained material will often interfere with the structural support material. For example, the structural support material is often cut while digging the holes for the sonotubes. This may impair the structural integrity of at least a portion of the retaining wall.
U.S. Patent Publication Document No. 2008/0277543 to Daysh et al. teaches another approach for securing fence posts to the top of a retaining wall. Daysh teaches a fence post bracket that positions the fence post away from a center portion of the retaining wall blocks, when view from above. The post bracket of Daysh comprises a variety of structures that extend into the cavities of the blocks. These structures are designed to provide an increased surface area for adhering with concrete that is filled within the cavities. This is how Daysh teaches to secure the post bracket in place. The post bracket of Daysh makes it difficult to use a top cap on the retaining wall. For example, the top cap will have to be cut to provide recesses that can accommodate the post brackets and fence posts. This cutting can be meticulous and labour intensive work. Additionally, a retaining wall that secures the post brackets within the block cavities with concrete could interfere with the use drainage materials within at least the block cavities that contain a post bracket.